Circular Economy for Manufacturing - CIRCULOOS Case

PROGRAM

EU Innovation Action

INDUSTRY

Manufacturing · Circular Economy · Sustainability

ORGANIZATION

Multi-partner EU Consortium

COUNTRY

Europe-wide

CIRCULOOS

Data-Driven Circular Economy Enablement for Manufacturing

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101092295 (CIRCULOOS)

This project demonstrates how structured data, analytics, and digital integration can turn circular economy principles into measurable, actionable outcomes. Through CIRCULOOS, The Data Cooks contributed to enabling transparent, scalable, and data-driven circular manufacturing models that support both sustainability goals and business value.

The challenge

Manufacturers aiming to adopt circular economy practices face a major barrier: fragmented lifecycle data. Information about materials, processes, usage, and end-of-life is often scattered across systems, organizations, and value-chain actors. This lack of visibility makes it difficult to assess circularity performance, optimize reuse and recycling strategies, and comply with evolving sustainability regulations. As a result, circular economy initiatives remain largely theoretical rather than operational.

The Solution/Added Value

Within the CIRCULOOS project, a data-driven framework was developed to support circular economy decision-making by integrating product, process, and lifecycle data across manufacturing value chains. The solution enables manufacturers to assess circularity indicators, environmental impact, and recovery potential using structured, interoperable digital information.

Key added values of the solution include:

Lifecycle Transparency Across the Value Chain
Integration of data from design, production, usage, and end-of-life phases to enable a holistic view of product circularity.
Actionable Circularity Insights
Analytics and indicators support informed decisions on reuse, refurbishment, recycling, and material recovery strategies.
Interoperable Digital Foundations
The framework is designed to work alongside emerging standards such as Digital Product Passports, ensuring future compatibility and regulatory readiness.
Industrial Validation & Scalability
The solution was validated through real industrial use cases, demonstrating its applicability across different manufacturing sectors and circular economy scenarios.